Solo: A Star Wars Story

Han Solo wants money, a ship, freedom and to save his girl. So he decides to take part in a heist that even the galaxy's greatest madmen wouldn't dare. Solo: A Star Wars Story is a brisk, entertaining, old-school adventure flick that is fun to watch, has likeable characters and good actors, and tries to show the world of Star Wars from the bottom up, from a place where there are no Jedi, Force or ambition to rule the universe, just a desire to make big bucks and have a good time. And it's a lot more fun than we'd expect after the creative problems. (26/07/2018)

Given the huge production difficulties, I do not understand how it is possible that the outcome turned out this well. Some things were reshot, some scenes were cut, some things were added with a bit of force, but Solo remains a successful adventure film that is perhaps most disruptive precisely because it is stitched together from so many different pieces. Gambling, chemistry with Lando, the train heist, the divine Qi'ra, and against all odds, Alden Ehrenreich leading a new Star Wars Story into a successful blockbuster, which loses in its episodic parts. The droid evil that L3 represents bothers me, as it brings ideas into the saga that I definitely do not need to see in it. The second misstep is the mining escapade, which feels like it came straight out of an average salad. I could do without the final cameo, which unnecessarily disrupts the (at that point incredibly intense) pace for fan viewers. Despite moments that may throw you off, the first financial failure in Star Wars history is a more than worthy fairytale that happily shoves the overcomplicated Rogue One into its pocket. (18/06/2018)

A solid summer diversion, but nobody wanted to see SW like that. It has fine action sequences, fine chemistry between Han and Chewbacca (whose friendship is surprisingly well thought out), and the occasional funny line or wink to past episodes, but the generic, strangely uncontained script just doesn't pull it off, and after a promising first hour, it gradually runs out of steam until it eventually flounders in uninteresting buddy conspiracy waters. It's no a dud, but the most famous space bad boy deserved a considerably more wholesome and fateful story, so in retrospect we have no choice but to bow again to Gareth Edwards, whose Rogue One is in a completely different league (which was fairly reflected in the box office)... 65% (21/09/2018)

For someone who doesn’t like any of the episodes of Star Wars, I give this one a thumbs up. A surprisingly solid and brisk heist space flick, with Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, and an unknown Solo lookalike pulling it off. It's nicely entertaining, decently filmed, sufficiently suspenseful and action-packed, and the weird creatures are kept to a minimum compared to Star Wars, which just suits me. A nice surprise and finally can I say the best Star Wars movie?? ! 80% (15/09/2018)

Disney is squeezing the last bits of juice from the Star Wars universe. In this movie, the action starts before we even know it. The actors are alright, and the visual effects are flawless… what is it that I want to complain about, then? Well, maybe that the movie is a bit lifeless. In terms of the story, I don’t care at all in which direction it will unfold because I know what will happen to Han Solo anyway. If it weren’t for the casting, which as always saved Disney from a fuck-up, I wouldn’t even have watched the movie to the end. (06/03/2019)